Multiple Shades of Gray: Craig Spence Finds a Killer Hiding Among Retirees

By JR Conway

                                 Multiple shades of Grey

This book is a work of fiction. Names of characters and incidents

• Language: English
• Publisher: CITIOFBOOKS, INC.
• Release date: May 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781960952059

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Copyright © 2023 by JR Conway

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2023907136

Contents

CHAPTER I 

CHAPTER II 

CHAPTER III 

CHAPTER IV 

CHAPTER V 

CHAPTER VI 

CHAPTER VII 

CHAPTER VIII 

CHAPTER IX 

I

For Craig retirement took some getting used to but not for Martha, she enjoyed it immensely. She no longer spent her days wondering what Craig was getting involved in, and the nights when he was out, with her heart in her throat waiting for him to come home or call her, so she knew he was all right.

She had always wanted to travel and now spent lots of time researching places to go and planning trips that the two would enjoy together. One trip that they both really enjoyed was a cruise from Seattle Washington to Alaska. They sailed deep into the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound. They spent seven days traveling from Anchorage to Vancouver, B.C. stopping in historic port cities like Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

On this trip, Craig spent a lot of time at the ship’s rails and on the balcony of their cabin. There seemed to always be a group of colorful dolphins racing alongside the ship, and in the evenings there were all sorts of colorful reflections from the ship’s lights dancing in the aqua water. Several afternoons while they were lounging on the deck, a member of the crew had alerted passengers that a pod of whales had been sighted and that they would be coming up on the port or starboard side. On one occasion the whales were just leisurely cruising on the surface, blowing spray into the air at different intervals. At another time, it was as though they were putting on a show, breaching and rolling as the passengers lined the rails and wondered at the performance.

Another thing that they found fascinating was what appeared to be the preferred or necessary mode of Travel in Alaska. Seaplanes were everywhere. The skies around the port cities were always abuzz with the sounds of planes. Watching them take off and the land was a great pastime when the ship was docked at a port city.

Between trips, Martha and Craig made it a point to get to know their neighbors at the Green River Senior Manor and they came to enjoy visiting and learning the life stories of other people, which were so much different than their own. Getting to know people generally occurred at mealtime. Craig enjoyed watching the servers flit around the tables taking people’s orders and delivering meals. It was like watching an orchestrated musical.

At lunch on one occasion, Craig and Martha sat at a table with an Asian lady. Martha started the conversation.

Hello, my name is Martha, and this is my husband Craig, and your name is---?

My Name is Tei; Tei Chi, people call me Tess, it is so nice of you to sit with me, was the reply.

Tess was slender in appearance, dressed in a white turtle neck sweater and black pants. The sweater really accented her salt and pepper hair that was cropped and styled from her chin around her head to her chin on the opposite side. She had very dark eyes that set far apart from a small straight nose that sat above a perfectly formed small mouth.

How long have you been here, Craig asked.

I think maybe a couple of weeks, Tess responded.

Craig and I were among the first to move here, Martha related. I’ve always wanted to travel so we’ve been gone a lot. Where are you from Tess?

I was born in a small village in Hainan province in China, Tess began. When I was around five years of age my family moved to the US. I was raised in San Francisco. Have you always lived in Wyoming?

Born and raised, Martha replied. I worked for the county until I married Craig, and he was the county sheriff for many years. What did you do and how did you end up here?

I studied political science at Stanford University and eventually was awarded a position at the embassy of China in San Francisco. A part of my family ancestry is here. Many years passed in my family history and members were brought here to work in the mines. There are descendants here and I came to Wyoming after I retired to connect. The owners of the Golden Dragon Restaurant in Rock Springs are a family of long distance. I worked in the restaurant until I had a stroke, and now I live here.

Then there was Norman, a large man with an extended belly. Norman was disfigured on the left side of his face; his left eye was partially closed, and his neck and his hands showed evidence that he had been severely burned. Craig noticed that Norman had a scar on the brow above his right eye. Only an ex-boxer would notice that. It was at an evening meal that the meeting had occurred and again it was Martha who initiated the conversation and managed the introductions.

Hello sir, may we sit with you? My name is Martha, and this is my husband Craig.

There’s plenty of room, sit down, was the response. Craig noticed that he spoke out the side of his mouth because of the scarring.

Don’t recall seeing you around since we’ve been here, Craig said. I see you have a name tag that they gave you, it says Norman, Norman Clayborn. Nice to meet you Norman."

Don’t come down often, Norman said.

You a Wyomingite? Craig asked.

No. Came from back east, said Norman.

What brought you out here? Martha asked.

You people sure ask a lot of questions don’t cha? Norman seemed annoyed.

Just trying to be neighborly and get to know you, Craig said. If you’d rather not talk we can handle that. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. When Norman was through and got up to leave he put his hand on Craig’s shoulder and spoke.

Don’t mean to be rude fella. Just don’t like it when people start asking a lot of questions. When he was gone Martha said. Now that’s a real piece of work. Course we don’t know what he went through to get all scarred up like that.

Some people just don’t like people prying into their lives, Craig surmised as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. I suppose we won’t run into too many of those.

After one of their trips, they noticed Mertel, the conservationist who was part of a couple they had first met at the Manor, sitting alone. Early on they had spent a lot of time getting to know her and Paul, her husband.

Mertel had grown up in Pennsylvania and was a high school sophomore when her dad got a job as the director of the Casper Chamber of Commerce. After high school, she went to the University of Wyoming in Laramie where she got a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Science. She met Paul at a conference in Green River pertaining to conservation matters concerning the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. He was the City Attorney for Green River at the time. She fell in love with him and the town and vowed to live there if she ever got the chance. When he got a job in Kalispel Montana she went with him.

Paul grew up in Ogden, Utah, and served twenty years in the Air Force as a JAG Officer (Judge Advocate General). Practicing law in the military made it easy to qualify for lawyer jobs when he got out. The last job of his career was in Kalispell, Montana as a Public Defender. He enjoyed that job because he never knew what the case was going to be. Mertel got a job as a conservation officer during that time. They both retired at the same time and were able to fulfill Mertel’s dream and move to Green River, Wyoming. When Martha saw Mertel sitting alone she lead the way to sit with her.

Hi Mertel, Where’s Paul? Martha said in greeting. She then noticed that Mertel’s eyes were puffy, and they began to fill when she saw Martha. Mertel got out of her seat and hugged Martha as she began to sob.

What has happened, Martha asked. Mertel controlled herself and sat and wiped her eyes with a napkin before speaking.

Paul passed away while you were gone, she began. "I didn’t know where you and